OUR NATIONAL PASTIME APPLIED TO THE LAW
OUR NATIONAL PASTIME APPLIED TO THE LAW
ZACK PELHAM ABA State Delegate
I’ ve been spending a lot of time at the ball diamonds this summer. With two boys playing baseball and a daughter playing softball, I’ ve traveled the state cheering on their teams. From Watford City to Wahpeton and many places in between. Our state is filled with great ballparks and a great love for our national pastime. In fact, I can count the number of days I have not been at a ball diamond this summer on one hand. I really wonder what my clients think when I’ m updating them on their case and suddenly, the crowd goes wild. While games are fun, so much is learned at the diamond: triumphs and failures alike. Much like the practice of law.
The worst thing after making a mistake is to allow that mistake to cause another mistake. Failure can breed failure, but it need not. How often do we see this in baseball and our practices alike? When the“ wheels fall off” is the point where despair and hopelessness can set in. Our jobs are pressure cookers. We often have to act quickly on our feet – a recipe for mistakes. I find rushing something out the door increases the potential for a mistake; whenever possible, I err on holding back a filing until the next day. But we don’ t always have that luxury. Working through and around and past mistakes as lawyers is where we can shine. I’ ve written on this before, taking responsibility and acknowledging a mistake must be the first step. Maybe we can“ hide” a failure for a time, but it will be found out. Working a solution to a mistake in as transparent a way as possible, and communicating this to a client or colleague, increases the odds of making a mistake a temporary setback. For when a mistake gains traction, compounding mistakes abound. Then, the situation becomes much more dire.
Moments of success are often built on failure. It is this success that we seek – to satisfy a challenging client, best a foe, or by pulling a rabbit out of the proverbial hat. The best stories are ones where the circumstances are bleak and the“ home team” pulls a surprise comeback. The challenges we face as attorneys will always be unique to the situation. The solutions to these challenges, however, are built upon resiliency and hard work. These traits form the bedrock of our profession. They are built upon embracing our failures and then overcoming them through grit, determination, and creativity. Many of these traits we attorneys learned in law school and in our practices. Are the circumstances of failure fair? No more fair than when a ball is hit fair by an inch or when a called third strike on the far outside corner ends a game.
Just as baseball and softball are games of inches, so is the practice of law. When challenges place us against the wall, we attorneys have the ability to shine by overcoming and working solutions despite our failings and mistakes. Even if recovery from a mistake is not realized, in the very least, that failure is one that is very unlikely to be repeated in the future.
In many ways, baseball and softball can be compared to our legal practices. Umpires and judges interpret the rules to( often) subjective situations; opponents work to gain advantages over one another; clients and fans are there to question, assist, and / or cheer; and everyone always has an opinion they strenuously argue. The goal for the players and attorneys? To win, of course. Though, along the way, it is more about building upon failures, mistakes, and maintaining composure at key moments that define us. After all, only so much is within our control.
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